The Jet Cage

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The Jet Cage
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written byFriz Freleng [1]
Starring Mel Blanc
June Foray
Edited by Treg Brown
Music by Milt Franklyn
William Lava (uncredited)
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy
Art Leonardi
Virgil Ross
Lee Halpern
Bob Matz
Layouts by Hawley Pratt
Backgrounds byTom O'Loughlin
Color process Technicolor
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
The Vitaphone Corporation
Release date
  • September 22, 1962 (1962-09-22)
Running time
6 minutes
LanguageEnglish

The Jet Cage is a 1962 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. [2] The short was released on September 22, 1962, and stars Tweety and Sylvester. [3]

Contents

Voice actors are Mel Blanc (doing the voices of Sylvester, Tweety and Blackbird) and June Foray (doing the voice for Granny).

The animation was by Gerry Chiniquy, Lee Halpern, Art Leonardi, Bob Matz and Virgil Ross. The layouts were designed by Hawley Pratt and the backgrounds by Tom O'Loughlin. The original music was composed by Milt Franklyn, who died during production on April 24, [4] and an uncredited William Lava who completed Franklyn's unfinished score. It was the last Tweety short directed by Freleng (Tweety's final Golden Age short, Hawaiian Aye Aye , was directed by Gerry Chiniquy).

Plot

Tweety sits in his house, a bird cage, looking at the birds through the window. Tweety yearns dearly to fly freely like other birds, but not allowed to do so by Granny. That is considering his safety, as Sylvester is always lurking around waiting for a chance to capture and eat him.

Granny reads a newspaper advertisement by Jet Age Technology, who has invented a $12.95 Flying Bird-Cage, which would allow birds to fly safely. Granny, who understands Tweety's longing for freedom, decides to buy the cage and presents it to Tweety. This enables Tweety to fly around outdoors without leaving the security of his cage.

Sylvester is at first taken aback at the sight of Tweety flying safely, piloting the jet-powered cage like an airplane. Two crows also watch in awe ("And all this time, I've been doing it the hard way," one crow remarks). Sylvester resolves to ground Tweety's cage and get his meal; his eyes rolling around to follow his every move.

Each of the following attempts are in vain:

At the end, Sylvester—limping on crutches and heavily bandaged—decides to join the U.S. Air Force, vowing to earn his wings and get Tweety once and for all (Sylvester was reading the sign: "Earn your wings at the U.S.A.F. Hmm that’s what I’ll do. And when I do, watch out, bird!”). [5]

Throughout the cartoon, the sound effects for the jet cage's engines are more appropriate to a propeller-driven aircraft, and so is the terminology Tweety uses when he reads aloud from the pilot's manual.

References

  1. ↑ Beck, Jerry (1991). I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat: Fifty Years of Sylvester and Tweety. New York: Henry Holt and Co. p. 150. ISBN   0-8050-1644-9.
  2. ↑ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 339. ISBN   0-8050-0894-2.
  3. ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 151–152. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  4. ↑ Warner Club News (1962) – Part 1
  5. ↑ Ironically Sylvester is the emblem of two actual Air Force Squadrons: the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron and the 151st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron.
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